Yummy Sweet Blueberry Breakfast Bread

My day job is pretty hard. Sometimes I have to wake up very early in the mornings to be on an event site ready to go by 5AM. Those days aren't very fun, but this bread helps. It has a bit of sweetness to make me want to eat it even if I'm very tired, it has blueberries for nutrition, and carbohydrates for energy. Schmear on some Irish butter and I have myself a pretty good breakfast on-the-go. On the flip side, it's also really indulgent on lazy (read "recovery") Sundays. When I'm sitting in the rocking chair with a cup of coffee, tired from working into the previous night, this bread is a welcome addition to my day.

KNEADING

In my opinion, this bread benefits from kneading, but don't overwork it. You want it to be soft and supple, but still stand up to the yeast rise. Your machine or hand kneading needs to really be felt as you go. Don't expect to get it right on the first try, I sure didn't. It took a few tries to find a good balance.

BUT IS IT GOOD FOR YOU?

Short answer? No. 

Long answer? Kinda? While some ascribe to "I don't have Celiac's, but I'm gluten free anyways," I don't. Humans have been farming wheat for more than 10,000 years, and humans were gathering it to eat much earlier than we were ever able to farm it. It was for things like porridge, and later, bread. Delicious leavened or unleavened bread depending on where you were at the time. This bread has all of the good things from bread like carbohydrates, a bit of protein, and healthy fats. 

But what I care a bit more about, are the blueberries. Blueberries are low in calories and high in flavor! Fiber, healthy sources of sugar, vitamin C, antioxidants, lots of good stuff! Assuming you aren't allergic and don't interfere with medication, blueberries really up the health factor of a piece of sweetened bread. Unfortunately, not enough to consider the bread healthy on the whole, sorry. 

IN THE GARDEN

We grow blueberries in our yard, but you should take that statement with a grain of salt. We only "technically" grow blueberries. "How can one only "technically" grow something?" you ask? Well, that would be because we have a blueberry bush that grows beautiful, dainty, white flowers and no blueberries. It's the one bush in our yard that isn't thriving and, sadly, I have to wait until next year before I can start reaping the benefits. I have amending the soil to increase the acidity and fixed the broken irrigation line that was accidentally causing it to experience drought conditions.

Pro-tip, make sure you don't accidentally almost kill your blueberry bush by not watering it.

Mornings are hard, but this bit of heaven helps. 

Yield: 12 Slices

Sweet Blueberry Breakfast Bread

Prep time: 2 H & 20 MCook time: 50 MTotal time: 2 H & 70 M

This Sweet Blueberry Breakfast Bread is the perfect way to start the day!

Ingredients:

• 1/2 Cup Milk
• 1/4 Cup Sugar
• 2 Tsp Dry, Active Yeast
• 4 Cups Unbleached All-Purpose Flour with Some for Dusting
• 1 Tsp Salt
• 1 Cup Warm Water 
• 1 Egg
• 1 Tbls Olive Oil
• 1 Cup Frozen Blueberries 
• Powdered Sugar for Dusting

Instructions:

How to cook Sweet Blueberry Breakfast Bread

First Rise

1. In the bowl of a mixer, stir together yeast, sugar, and 1/2 of the water
2. Wait 5 - 10 minutes for the yeast to get foamy
3. Add in the rest of the water, milk, salt, egg, and olive oil.
4. Beat the egg slightly
5. Add in 1 Cup of the flour, stir to combine
6. Attach the kneading arm to the mixer and add in the remaining flour 1 Cup at a time
7. Mix on medium high for 5 minutes
8. On a clean, floured surface, turn out the dough and kneed in the frozen blueberries 
9. Roll the dough in circles on the surface to form a ball and return to the bowl
10. Cover with a clean towel and let the dough rise in a warm place for 1 hour

Second Rise and Bake

1. Punch the dough down and turn it out onto a clean, floured surface
2. Roll the dough in circles on the surface to form into a tight ball, tucking the edges under as you go
3. Place the dough ball in a round, floured proofing basket seam side up
4. Cover with a clean towel and let the dough rise in a warm place for 1 hour
5. With 45 minutes left on the rise, place a dutch oven in the oven and preheat the oven to 450 F
6. When the hour is up, carefully remove the dutch oven 
7. Turn the dough ball out onto a piece of parchment paper and make 1-2 shallow slices in the top of the dough
8. Using the parchment paper as a sling, lift the dough and set it inside of the dutch oven, cover with an oven safe lid, and return it to the oven
9. Cook for 45-50 minutes taking the lid off for the final 10 minutes
10. Cool completely on a metal rack and dust the top of the loaf with powdered sugar
11. Slice and serve with butter

Calories
236.56

Fat (grams)
2.26

Sat. Fat (grams)
0.49

Carbs (grams)
48.32

Fiber (grams)
1.65

Net carbs
46.67

Sugar (grams)
15.16

Protein (grams)
5.51

Sodium (milligrams)
207.37

Cholesterol (grams)
16.32

Created using The Recipes Generator